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Currently Reading

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Just finished reading Pied Piper (Vintage International) by Nevil Shute. Remember him? You’ve got to be over about 50 to even know his name. He’s most famous for his book On the Beach that he wrote in 1957. This book, the Pied Piper, he wrote during WWII. It’s a poignant tale about a rather elderly Englishman who decides to take a trip to the mountains along the French/Swiss border just before Germany invades. His goal is to go fishing – but he gets caught up in a bit of intrigue (not the spy novel type at all) when acquaintances he meets beg him to take their children, to get them out of France before they might be taken by the Nazis. Reluctantly he agrees when he realizes that he probably shouldn’t have made the trip at all and that he must return to England. Many logistical difficulties ensue, and more children are added to his little family. It’s a wonderful tale, heartwarming for sure. Shute is an excellent writer who draws you into his tales. He also wrote Trustee From The Toolroom, one of my favorite books I’ve read in the last couple of years.

Also read Tracy Chevalier’s newest book, Remarkable Creatures: A Novel. I always love to read a novel that has me learn something concrete, as it tells a story. This one is about the friendship between two women in Lyme Regis (a town on the southern coast of England) back in the mid-1800s. From different social strata, they both share a love, a passion, for collecting and finding fossils on the beaches of their town. The education here is all about the fossils. Fossils from ancient times, with a great “to-do” over who owns them, crediting (or not) who found them, about the astute (not) experts who discredit these two women. The story is charming, sweet, and Chevalier did it again, for me, creating a story that was a pretty good page-turner. I’ve never been interested particularly in fossils, but they hold new interest since reading this book.

Just finished The Interestings: A Novel, by Meg Wolitzer. It’s about a group of mid-teens (both guys and gals) who become close friends at a summer camp, and with nothing else to inspire them, they decide to call themselves “The Interestings.” The story switches back and forth from the early years, with alcohol, drugs and sex playing fairly major roles, to their late 30s or early 40s when all of the “interestings” have become adults, parents, successes, failures. It’s about their internal angst, or pride, or false-pride, and their jealousies of each other. It had been recommended by more than one friend of mine. As I read it I kept hoping it was going to get better and it does, but I had to get half way through before I really wanted to keep going. It WAS a good read, though. With the exception of seeing some maturity develop amongst the characters, the book is kind of like a soap opera. The main character is a likable woman, thank goodness.

You’ll have to take a gander at these little baby globe-shaped eggplant (below) – they’re called Hindu, or Indian, or Indian Paint. They’re full grown, not really babies. Cute little buggers. Offered at the local farmer’s market last week, and I wanted to do something easy but fun with them.

I cut them in half (although you don’t have to) and baked them (drizzled with olive oil) at 375 for about 45 minutes, until the skins had begun to shrivel. But not enough that they’d dried out. I had ample ripe on-the-stem tomatoes, some red onion, green onion, fresh mint and parsley. Then I made a dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic. The recipe came from Chow.com. I’d never looked at the website before, but the recipe is credited to a restaurant called Nopa (in San Francisco). Chef Laurence Jossel. This could also be an appetizer, I think – the original recipe sounds more like one since you scoop it onto pita bread. So think of that as an option. I made it as a side dish with grilled lamb chops.

The salad, to be served at room temp, was easy. Just a bit of chopping and mincing involved. Be sure to include the wine vinegar – lemon juice isn’t enough to give this salad it’s bright flavor. The original recipe said just wine vinegar – I used sherry because I have some good stuff and like to use it in a salad such as this one when the flavor shines through. These small eggplant don’t need to be skinned – their skin is quite thin and quite edible.printer-friendly PDF

1. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat (375°F). Add the whole eggplant and allow skin to char all over, turning every 5 minutes. After about 30 minutes, the eggplant will collapse. Remove to a colander and allow to cool. Alternately, bake eggplant at 375 for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until you’ll see the flesh is collapsing inside and the color has taken on a golden hue.
2. Combine red onion, kosher salt, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Allow to marinate at least 5 minutes.
3. Once the eggplant is cool, scoop flesh from charred skin and coarsely chop. Combine eggplant with marinated onions and remaining ingredients. Mix together gently and season well with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
4. Serve at room temperature with grilled pita or baguette toastsPer Serving: 140 Calories; 9g Fat (56.4% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 952mg Sodium.